Children of all ages are continually seeking new ways to entertain and challenge themselves. To that end, an untold number of games have been developed that range on a continuum from team sports to board games. On one end of the continuum, sports are excellent for physical conditioning and the development of hand-eye coordination, however sports require a large amount of space, lots of equipment, and usually a multitude of opponents and teammates. On the other end of the continuum are board games. While requiring very little equipment and space, board games only challenge one's wit and are necessarily a sedentary activity.
Accordingly, a category of games has evolved that fills the middle of the continuum. These games require very little equipment or space and are suitable for play at almost any time or place, yet still actively engage the participant and require a great deal of hand-eye coordination. One familiar example of this type of game is the ball and cup game or Bolero as it is known in Latin American countries. This game typically consists of a small cup attached to the end of a small stick or handle. A string, usually attached to the base of the cup and sometimes around the handle, is used to tether a small ball. The ball is sized and selected to fit into the cup with a given clearance that ultimately determines the difficulty of the game. In order to play the game, the player swings the handle, which throws the ball against the tether, in an attempt to land the ball in the cup. The cup is the goal and the object of the game is to put the ball in the goal. Accordingly, the amount of clearance between the ball and the cup determines how difficult it is to swing the ball into the cup. This type of game requires a great deal of skill and hand-eye coordination. However, this particular game device has one drawback, in that the string attached to the ball has an adverse effect on the otherwise natural flight of the ball due to air resistance and gravity. The string on this device causes the ball to fly in an erratic, unnatural, and random fashion. As such it detracts from the enjoyment of playing the game because there are factors that cannot be controlled by the player.
There is a need for a new type of cup game that tests the users skills and hand eye coordination in a more realistic manner yet retains the advantage of being able to play the game in a limited amount of space and with very little equipment. This new game should allow for natural unrestricted flight of the ball. Not only should this new type of game be fun to play, but it also should be useful as a warm-up for activities requiring hand-eye coordination, skill, and a reflex type reaction to gravity's effect on a ball. For example, a basketball player or baseball pitcher cannot shoot baskets or throw pitches 24 hours a day. To do so would likely cause injury. As an alternative to overtraining, this new type of game could be employed to develop the participant's hand eye coordination and skill. By playing this game, the player could develop a reflexive or intuitive sense of how a ball will react to given input relative to gravity and air resistance. Additionally, playing this game may be useful to rehabilitate patients with injuries or conditions that result in a loss of coordination, such as a stroke victim.